Friendly fire

摘要

"No permanent friends or ene- mies, only permanent interests", goes a well-worn axiom of realist statesmanship. The formation in 2010 of Britain's first coalition government since the second world war showed that the prospect of power could trump large ideological differences between two parties. But diplomatic relations between David Cameron's Conservative Party and Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats have reached the table-thumping stage. Last year saw bitter arguments over House of Lords reform and constituency boundaries. It ended with the spectacle of Mr Clegg theatrically rolling his eyes during the autumn statement, in which George Osborne, the Tory chancellor, announced new tax and spending measures.